GLOBAL PANEL - EDUCATION FORUM

June 15th, 2003 - Prague, Czech Parliament

Further Description:

The Prague Forum on Education Management and Funding will bring together a selection of international experts to discuss current issues in primary, secondary and higher education in the Senate of the Czech Republic.

Under the Patronage of:
President of the Senate, JUDr. Petr Pithart
Deputy Prime Minister Cyril Svoboda, Foreign Minister
Minister Petra Buzková, Minister for Education
Major Pavel Bém, Lord Mayor of Prague

 

SUMMARY SHEET

Throughout the world there is an increasing focus on the problems of education. Scarcity of public funds requires efficient delivery of services. In Central and Eastern European EU Accession countries there is a need to focus on education, especially higher education, as a key factor in the transition to knowledge-based societies. Lack of access to education hinders economic growth and exacerbates social and political tensions. Meanwhile in the West, and particularly in the United States, elementary and secondary schools are failing to educate the least advantaged members of society to fully participate in the modern economy.

The Prague Forum on Education Management and Funding will bring together experts from Europe and the United States to discuss fundamental reforms designed to increase educational access and effectiveness. We start from the premise that the United States has much to learn from the European experience with public funding of non-state schools and national testing programs while Europe, and particularly Eastern Europe, can draw useful lessons from the American practice of private provision and funding of higher education.

The Prague Society for International Cooperation and the Global Panel Foundation will address these issues and bring them into sharp focus, with a view to informing and influencing policy-makers in the Central/Eastern European region.

Post-Communist, EU accession countries can move forward with educational reform when their cooperation in the field is strengthened. The Prague Forum on Education Management and Funding will bring U.S. Governors, Canadian Premiers and Ministers of Education and Dutch, German, Belgian and British Ministers of Education and Heads of Parliamentary Education Committees face to face with the Education Committees of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Croatia. Leading experts from post-Communist countries will also be invited to debate the issues with leading international experts from OECD, World Bank and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University.

The Prague Forum on Education Management and Funding will take place over two days. In the morning of day one, participants will give presentations on predefined topics in a plenary session. These presentations will set the agenda for the rest of the Forum. Day two will continue with the workshop sessions began in the afternoon session of day one and will culminate in a final plenary session where data will be collected into a final document. Political leaders and policy makes from EU Accession countries and Western Europe and North America will join in each session according to their interest. At the end of the conference all participants will come together to discuss the design of an optimal educational funding system.

The main goal of the Forum will be to nurture collaborative and interdisciplinary policy-oriented research on education in EU accession candidate countries in Eastern and Central Europe and to develop a common strategy for implementing reforms in financing primary, secondary and tertiary education in the EU accession states.

PROGRAM

Both days of the Forum will be devoted to examining models of education management and funding, with a view to identifying best practices and stimulating discussion on potential innovation. Pre-selected topics serve as a framework for debate. Salient issues will be refined and/or expanded in line with the input of each participant. Topics for debate will include (but not be limited to):

State Interests vs. the Individual
Liberalization leads to wider choice of pathways and programs but does it serve economic interests?
Should public money fund private institutions?
Is state support for religious or private education divisive or inclusive?

Resources
What are the benefits in investing in Human Resources Develpement (HRD)?
How does the state decide what percentage of GDP should be earmark for Educational development?

Management
Should governments regionalize general management and allocation of funds?
Cost-sharing: is this an economic or a political issue and how should it be managed?